Evans and Solberg crash as Pajari takes Croatia rally lead
10th April 2026Toyota’s Sami Pajari has taken the lead after the first day of the World Rally Championship’s Croatia Rally, as both Elfyn Evans and Oliver Solberg crashed on day one.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
The young Finn, Pajari, has held back the advances of Hyundai’s 2024 champion, Thierry Neuville, as the Toyota driver takes the overall lead with 13 seconds in hand going into day two.
Pajari and Neuville shared top honours as the fastest drivers of the event so far, with three stage wins apiece on Friday. Neuville took first blood of the pair, with his SS3 win, but Pajari bounced back with wins on SS4 and SS5.
Neuville repaid the Finn with the double on SS6 and SS7 before Pajari took the fastest time on SS8.
It means the Toyota driver stands 13.7 seconds ahead of the Belgian world champion, with rally-winner in Kenya, Takamoto Katsuta, rounding out the top three, 0.9 seconds adrift of the Hyundai crew.
However, it was not smooth sailing as both Elfyn Evans and Oliver Solberg crashed on the opening day of the event, joining the list early as off-road retirements.
Solberg was the first to hit the list after he slipped off the road on the first test of the day. He clipped the side of a bank at a right-hander, which bounced him off the road. Despite his best attempts, the Swede couldn’t stop his Rally1 Yaris from going down a steep ditch and beaching the car amongst the trees.
Evans was the next to falter, after making a strong start in Croatia. The Welshman took the stage wins in both Vodice-Brest 1 (SS1) and Lake Butoniga – Motovun 1 (SS2). But, it all came apart on SS3, Beram – Cerovlje.
The championship leader went off heavily after he misjudged a right-hander, approaching the corner with too much speed and diving off the road into woodland foliage and trees. Evans mistake wiped out his 15.8-second advantage over now-rally leader, Sami Pajari.
So, where are the Rally1 runners?
- Sami Pajari, Toyota – 1hr 12m 18.5s
- Thierry Neuville, Hyundai +13.7s
- Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota +14.6s
- Hayden Paddon, Hyundai +1m 15s
- Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +1m 54.6s
Joshua McErlean and Jon Armstrong, of M-Sport Ford, find themselves down in 11th and 48th overall, respectively.
Read more WRC here:
- What is the WRC Croatia Rally stage itinerary?
- Entry List: 2026 WRC Rally Islas Canarias
- Toyota experience differing conditions in testing ahead of Croatia Rally
- Takamoto Katsuta inherits Safari Rally Kenya lead after top three retire
- Solberg heads Safari Rally Kenya after a chaotic Saturday morning
- Oliver Solberg maintains Safari Rally Kenya lead despite puncture
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
